again | taylor swift au

chapter 12

When Taylor hears her phone ringing, she picks it up without looking at the contact. She figures it's either her mom or Anthony. It's always her mom or Anthony. They're the only ones who ever call her.

So, imagine her surprise on the other end of the line, when she hears, "Hey there, Miss 'Clouds-in-my-Coffee.'"

"Casey..." she says, drawing in a quick, sharp breath. "Hi."

"Listen," he says, "I don't know if you can hear it, but I'm at this coffee shop, and they're playing some internet radio or a playlist or something... I'm not really sure what it is, but there's no ads, so it's not an FM or AM radio station... probably some Spotify playlist... but anyway, that doesn't matter. They're playing your song."

Taylor gasps. "Wait, really?"

"Really," he says. "'Treacherous'... can you hear it? I'm putting you on speaker so you can pick up the background noise better."

She sits quietly, listening, and does hear a trace of her song. "Oh my god, that's so cool," she says, unable to keep herself from letting out a little squeal. "Wow."

"And, can I tell you something even cooler?"

"What's that?"

"It played right after Carly Simon."

"You're joking."

"Swear on my life," he tells her. "I thought you'd just like to know that, okay Clouds?"

Taylor raises an eyebrow, well aware that he can't see her. The facial expression is for herself... but he can hear the expression in her tone of voice clear as day through the phone. "Clouds?"

"'Clouds-in-my-coffee' is just too long. I like 'Clouds.' It's cute. It's sweet. They're fluffy and white and whimsical and full of dreams. Just like you."

"I'm fluffy and white?" Taylor asks.

"No. You're whimsical and full of dreams. You're also white. You can't deny that... though it wasn't part of my logic."

Taylor lets out a laugh. "Fair enough. But please don't go telling me that I'm fluffy."

"It's not the first word that comes to mind when I describe you. Or the last word. Or any word in between"

They both start to giggle. "Anyway, I'm sure you've got lots of better things to do, but I'll see you tonight, alright Clouds?"

"Alright," Taylor says. "I can't wait."

"Me too."

At that, they hang up the phone.  Taylor looks up to Liza. The producer has a smirk on her face. "So... is it safe to assume that's the guy from the song?"

Taylor's face turns beet red. "Yeah. But... he probably can't hear this one yet. We've only been on one and a half proper dates."

"How do you go on half of a date?"

"We were with other people and it wasn't like... supposed to be romantic, but then our friends left and it was just us and by the end of the night, he was kissing me on the street."

"Oh," Liza laughs. "Right... so... you don't think he'd be too thrilled of 'I can see you up against a wall with me?'"

"Shut up," Taylor mutters, blushing even more- which she didn't think was possible. "It's just... I mean... I don't want him to think I'm moving too fast or anything but I was just writing a few nights ago and it was pouring out of me and-"

"I get it, you were horny."

"Liza!" Taylor exclaims. "Stop it."

"Happens to the best of us girl," she shrugs. "Now, do you want to lay down some vocals?"